Behind the Scenes

The Producers

The Antiques Roadshow has been around for almost three decades. A television phenomenon in Britain, the first show debuted in 1977 and has been a mainstay on British television ever since. In 1996 PBS affiliate WGBH in Boston began producing the show for a North American audience.

Enter John Brazill and Mark Pedersen. They are former CBC executive producers and have had extensive experience in producing current affairs and television news. In 2000 both had retired from the CBC and formed their own production companies (Mark’s is called Pedersen Productions and John’s Angus Street Productions.)

It was John’s idea to pursue WGBH for the Canadian rights to the Antiques Roadshow.

“I always liked the sense of place that you got from watching the British and American shows,” explains John. “I felt it would work in Canada, that the format was easily transferable to Canadian television.”

After initial discussions, John and Mark joined forces, with Mark handling the business side of the partnership and John looking after the creative elements, and began the arduous process of putting the show together.

“It was complex because there were three broadcasters involved,” says Mark. “The BBC was licensing WGBH and they were in turn licensing us and the CBC was purchasing the show, so there were all these competing interests to take into account.”

The whole process took about three years, but by early 2004 John and Mark were ready to go. The first order of business was deciding where to set up shop. Mark lives outside of Saint John, New Brunswick and John lives in Regina, Saskatchewan, so they approached both provinces and New Brunswick was extremely interested in helping.

“It didn’t take long for New Brunswick Film to come on board and so once we decided where the show was going to be based, it was easy to choose Saint John as the location for our first show,” says Mark.

With the first city chosen, Mark and John tried to pin down six more locations with the idea they would shoot enough material for two shows in each venue.

“The reality is that Canada is a big country and that we need to make each season representative of that vastness. We tend to think in terms of regions, so although that doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll always do seven cities; we could do more or we could do less, but the show will always reflect the place,” says Mark.

Reflecting the country and the people who live here is at the very heart of the show.

“Canadian culture is diverse,” says John, “and we reflect that diversity back to the country. As for the actual content of the show, well the Canadian stories came out of the woodwork; finding those stories was not an issue. The show is chock full of Canadian stories from coast to coast. I think the show does a good job of reflecting Canada back to Canadians in the way we always thought it could and would.”

“We always thought that if we told Canadian stories about Canadian antiques from Canadian families we’d learn more about the country,” adds Mark. “The story is as important as the price.”

Helping to tell those stories are over fifty experts from all across the country. Finding the right people for the job was another onerous task and even John admits that during the first year they were taking a big chance with mostly unknown personalities.

“To a large extent they [the appraisers] were a positive surprise,” says John. “For a first- time group on a first-year program, they over-achieved.”

John and Mark were mentored by Christopher Lewis, former executive producer of the British Antiques Roadshow.

“Christopher articulated the philosophy of what the show should be: non-commercial, with respect for each client and their item whether they bring an ashtray or a treasure,” says John. “Plus he has the background and experience with the show [over 20 years] and we absorbed that from him.”

The first show, shot at the Imperial Theatre in Saint John on May 5, 2004, was a huge success.

Three weeks and six cities later, John and Mark arrived back in Saint John and began the long and labour-intensive job of putting the show together.

“We felt the euphoria after Saint John,” says Mark. “It was a great feeling of relief; the chemistry and energy caught on tape was remarkable and I think we’ll have that feeling again when we get the audience’s reaction to the show. I don’t think we realize the impact the show is going to have because we’re so caught up in the minutiae of putting the show together.”

“There’s no formula to making a television show in Canada,” John adds. “The reality is that you create the show out of twine and gum and masking tape and try to keep it on the rails. The Canadian Antiques Roadshow is an expensive show to make and CBC took a big risk. They deserve a lot of credit for supporting the idea.

“For me what matters is that the show works,” John continues. “We think the show will be a success, but there’s only one way to find out and that’s if people watch in January.”

The Canadian Antiques Roadshow debuts on CBC Television Wednesday January 12 at 8 p.m.